The music slowly dies down, the highlander song has reached its quietest point. The electricity in the air hints towards an even greater part of the song, however. The playoffs are right around the corner, the teams are set and ready, and everyone's excited for a good time.

Ginyu Hoops confirm their fourth seed, not through any means of their own – but with the $ilver $avages being stomped on by mTs in a 4-0 loss, that .25 match point upset no longer a reasonable event to root for. The other three seeds, dK/mTs/.knd, all are waiting on one final match to concretely place them in the first, second, or third seed. They've been confirmed for playoffs for a while now, and were obvious favorites to make it in at the beginning of the season.

The rest of the teams however, from .$$ down, will have to make peace with a simple nine week season, and look forward to this supposedly not so serious fall season and ponder their place in the grand scheme of Highlander.

Teams

When mTs picked up their victory against dK on Ashville, they took the #1 seed from them, and it's no surprise to see them still here. Despite the roster changes over the season, and a new influx of starters who may not be traditionally considered 'mTs players', mTs proved that there is little that can truly destroy the foundation of such a solid team. While the temporary switchup with the Soldier, Demo, and Medic classes no doubt may raise a few eyes, for both positive and negative, it's just that – temporary. Giraffe is off doing whatever it is that giraffes do, and instead of picking up someone specifically to cover for him, the team shuffled players around, moving then-Soldier muma to Demoman, picking up Nursey to play Medic while Harbleu picks up the Rocket Launcher yet again. The switches are no reason to consider dropping mTs down a spot, but with a crucial game against .knd coming up, the team will certainly have the ability to prove themselves.

Still sitting tightly at the top of the on-site rankings due to an unplayed game by mTs, dK are looking ready to break any previous records. Having achieved 4th when they played last in Season 14, and a high of 3rd back in Season 13, dK no doubt will want to top that with at least an appearance in the Grand Finals. They've got some anticlimactic crap to go through first, last week facing eHarmony and this week Funkblasters, but once playoffs begin, that's where all the matches will start to matter.

The victors of last season, .knd quietly coast through the season, losing only to dK and just now facing mTs. Their game against mTs will be the final decider for seeds in playoffs, and if won, give .knd the insulation they need against the prophecies of doom that started after that awful Steel week. They're still the defending champions, though, going for a third victory this season, and that's not at all out of their grasp. It's arguable that they'll have the most trouble this time around, with mTs being perpetually fantastic, and dK looking like such an amazing powerhouse. .knd are no slouches either, as evident by back to back victories. While their roster has changed quite a bit over their life in top Plat, especially the Scout spot, there's no reason that .knd should be counted out of playoffs before it even begins.

After all the crap people gave them, after the season of a fluid roster, and after the death of bote, Ginyu Hoops find themselves slipping into playoffs. They've still got a match against .buffalo to play, but should be able to take that fairly easily. Once they hit playoffs, though, that'll be a tough road for them. They'll be coming in fourth seed, meaning they'll face either dK or mTs. While their game against dK back in Week 1 was certainly a closer game than them vs mTs, the teams were pretty different back then. They're definitely going to have an uphill battle, but it's no doubt doable.

With mTs shutting them down, the hope for .$$ slips distinctively into hope against hope territory, requiring .buffalo to 2-0 20b in order to make playoffs. With that so incredibly unlikely, and a Bye week for the $avages, their season is for all intents and purposes over. To be in 5th place is no mean feat for a gold all-star team, though, it's not a terrible end at all.

A send-off game against eHarmony will end ·aMw·'s season, a respectable 4-5 record. They fall into the ladder, beating the teams below them and losing to the teams above them. Hopefully, should they stick around next season, their roster issues will dissipate, giving them a stable base to spring off of. They've already proved themselves to be more than just the remains of bfl', and hopefully they can break that roof they seem to find themselves just under. Both seasons now, they've found themselves one spot below the higher levels of Plat. Third time's the charm?

While technically holding the key to .$$'s future, it's unlikely they'll be able to reach the door to fit it. The ladder slowly trickles down, and seeing ·aMw·'s four wins, .buffalo find themselves with three. A removal of the bote FFW shows only two victories, not something any team would want to be boasting about. Still, for a team that was likely going to be playing in Gold until after the Week 1 matches happened, they performed admirably.

The final stop in dK's walk to Playoffs, Funkblasters feels like a team that should've scored a bit better than they did. Players like Arzt, Seer of Shadows and Valkeri have all played on higher level teams last season, so it's interesting to see the former mid-plat team return in such a weaker state. While a lot of their future (should they continue) will depend on a continued round-robin system in Platinum, they didn't drop out, and in an experimental season like this, any more teams dropping out after bote would have been devastating.

Well, part of talking about every Plat team's season is that you reach the team that didn't win anything. Bluebird and co. performed fantastically, even after losing game after game, player after player. A single victory from their Bye week adorns their trophy wall, and eight weeks of painful experiences haunt them in their nightmares. In the end, a team that survives is greater than a team that folds, and while few will say eHarmony could have had a chance against bote, mad props to the eHarmony folk for sticking it out even after a couple of bad dates.

Matches

While this should be another routine victory for Ginyu Hoops, if they make some catastrophic mistakes they could lose their playoff spot. There should be no such thing, however, especially now with all but Duwatna able to return, having found themselves with no more games to play in the ESEA playoffs. Duwatna should be able to return as well, seeing as b4nny actually has a game this week and games rarely get scheduled the day after its predecessor anyways. With (hopefully) their full lineup this week, Ginyu will be able to take a simple Upward game before a game against either dK or mTs on Viaduct. As a quick side-note, this should be the week where mTs and .buffalo remake their Week 1 game, but that should be even more of a lopsided game than this one. 2-0 for Ginyu Hoops (and mTs!)

If the 20b vs .buffalo game was a 'routine victory', this is practically going to be a walk in the park for dK. Funkblasters should be able to stand little chance, having lost 2-0 to ·aMw· in the first week. dK are full of methodical and experienced players, and should make little mistake. While Funkblasters should be able to pull off some decent pushes and picks, the ball will never really be in their court to lob. 2-0 for Dunning-Kruger Effect.

Now here, here's where this week shines. The undefeated mTs takes on their final challenge, and in typical Final Boss setup, it's .knd. Returning champions for two times now, having picked Upward in the Grand Finals to take a victory. The rosters and stakes have changed, though. In place of Ibby, Scizor. In place of Dill, Lunacide. In place of the crown itself, the two team's seed placement. In place of, well, nothing in particular, the Undefeated crown mTs currently hold. What an excellent battle to bring us into the playoffs. While it's easy to look back on last season's GF and cast your saloon.tf ballot in favor of .knd, with so much small things changing, the battle's as up in the air as the hopes and dreams of whoever's the favorite to win Silver right now. A lot will come down to very small things, but one thing that will affect the game that isn't at all small is the Giraffe vacuum that resulted in .knd's old Medic, Nursey, in to play for mTs. The bote sailor muma will pick up Demoman duties, leaving Harbleu to Soldier in his wake. While a largely untested lineup, it will not last as the Giraffe will return from grazing soon. For this match, however, it'll come into play. Due to their roster being arguably weaker with this lineup, and .knd wanting to continue their record, .knd should edge it out in an insanely close 2-1 victory. 2-1 in favor of Kids Next Door.

If there was an anticlimactic way to end off the regular season's battles, this is it. While ·aMw· may not be the best team, or the flashiest, the game will be of little interest. A Million Ways should be able to solidly take this game, ending both of their seasons, and ending the season altogether. 2-0 in favor of A Million Ways.